“My last two fights had affected me badly,” said Guillard. “My dad had just died, so my mind wasn’t really into fighting and my heart wasn’t there but I want it to be there. Now I’m back and I’m ready.”

“The loss I got from him (Clementi) I can’t base that and say that Rich is a better fighter than me because technically we got in a street fight and technically I beat the s**t out of him. But now I’m over that, I’m more mature now, I don’t care. I just want to get better and get my rematch inside the ring and I’m going to leave it like that.”

“I just want to be a legend in the sport, I want to be a champion, and I want to be a hall of famer,” he said. “It ain’t about the money to me anymore. Fighting to live, fighting to survive, it ain’t about that anymore. Now it’s about just having fun, and right now I just need to get back to having fun and winning fights.”

At what point does Melvin lose the “potential” tag and just become a guy who doesn’t deserve to fight in the UFC?

The guy does not know how to grapple and, frankly, it doesn’t seem like he will ever have the aptitude or desire to learn or he would have already. He’s had 30+ fights, is already 25 years old and STILL has no grappling skill whatsoever.

Sam, I guess the question is: how exactly do we define potential in terms of grappling?

I don’t think it’s just pure athleticism, which Melvin no doubt has an overabundance of. Being athletic surely helps, but there are other intangibles involved that define grappling potential.

Either way, Melvin obviously trains *some* grappling since he’s an MMA fighter and he has been for years. That combined with the fact that he still sucks at it, tells me he basically has the potential to be no more than serviceable.

Guillard is the poster child for all the potential in the world and but with the desire to live the champion lifestyle without the dedication. If the kid just focused and cut everything else out he could be great, but instead he’d rather pretend he has more than he has. Such a disappointment. He’s probably the most naturally gifted athlete in the UFC and yet he can’t get over the hump cause he’s a nut.

I think the optimum level of grappling ability for Guillard is that of Rampage which I think he could reach if he applied himself. But if your mentality towards to jiu jitsu is that people who use it are “huggiing you” and that they are “mat rats” then your not going to get anywhere.

But yeah telling Guillard to focus is like telling Pedro Rizzo to be more aggressive and Andy Wang that he needs to utilize his jiu jitsu as opposed to his limp dick stand up.

Sam, funny think about his grappling is that he was an All-American Wrestler. He is a blue belt under Ricco (I don’t know how great of a teacher Ricco is so I can’t really say much about this belt). He just doesn’t care.

Discussions of Guillard always confuse athletic potential with fighting potential. He is a good athlete, he is not a good fighter. His wins tend to be where he overpowers an opponent (the mark of an athlete), his losses tend to be where he makes simple mistakes (the mark of someone who is not skilled or doesn’t show it).

I guess I still don’t understand why melvin is still employed by anyone. Testing positive for cocaine and getting to keep your job is the goddamn dumbest thing I’ve ever heard of. Maybe all employers should follow this criteria for hiring and keeping people on board!